COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Nov. 28, 2011) – FIVB World Cup leader Poland made all the right moves on Monday as it defeated the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team 25-15, 25-20, 25-18 in Fukuoka, Japan.

With the loss, the U.S. Men, ranked fourth in the world, fall to 3-4 and maintain seventh place in the standings. Poland, ranked eighth in the world, improves to 6-1 and continues to lead the standings, one point ahead of second-place Russia.

The FIVB World Cup uses a round-robin format resulting in 11 matches over a 15-day period. The three teams reaching the World Cup medal podium on Dec. 4 will earn berths into the 2012 Olympic Games. For the full FIVB World Cup schedule and tournament details, visit the U.S. Men’s tournament event page at http://usavolleyball.org/events/5557.

The U.S. Men will conclude the third round of the World Cup on Tuesday in Fukuoka against host Japan (1-5; Nov. 29 at 1:20 a.m. PT).

Poland’s serve put pressure on the U.S. Men, often forcing them out of system. Poland led in aces, 7-3. It also led in kills, 43-28 and in blocks, 8-5.

“Many times volleyball is a complex game. It can also be a simple game. They were better than us in the passing and serving game. We didn't have any rhythm today,” U.S. Head Coach Alan Knipe (Huntington Beach, Calif.) said. “They kept the pressure on us from start to finish. We must look at the video and learn from this. I'm disappointed.”

U.S. team captain and opposite Clay Stanley (Honolulu, Hawaii) led the U.S. with 10 points on nine attacks and one block. Outside hitter Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.) added nine points on eight attacks and one block.

“They took advantage of their serves and had several aces,” Stanley said of Poland. “They had some great touches and we didn't. They took us out of our game. We need to watch the video and get better.”

Poland led 16-13 in the first set when Poland went on a 5-0 run, including two aces from scoring leader Zbigniew Bartman, to lead 21-13 and put the set out of reach. The second set stayed closer with the team tied at 11-11 before Poland gained a 13-11 edge. With Poland leading 17-14, a Polish error and Brian Thornton (San Clemente, Calif.) ace pulled the U.S. to within one. Poland led 18-17 when it scored on a U.S. service error and violation to lead by three. Lee came back with a block, but the damage was done and Poland went on to win.

In the third set, Poland took a 5-1 lead and by the second technical timeout (TTO) was ahead 16-9. With Poland leading 21-13, the U.S. used a 3-0 run to cut the deficit, but Poland came back and scored the final three points of the match.

Among other U.S. scorers, outside hitter Reid Priddy (Richmond, Va.) finished with five points on three attacks, one block and one ace. Middle blocker Russell Holmes (Fountain Valley, Calif.) scored three points on three attacks. Middle blocker David Lee (Alpine, Calif.) totaled three points on two kills and a block.

Middle blocker Ryan Millar (Alpine, Utah) scored two points on one spike and one block. Outside hitter Sean Rooney (Wheaton, Ill.) added two points on kills. Thornton, the setter, had two points on aces.

Thornton was credited with 13 assists for the U.S. Men, who had a kill percent of 38.4 and hitting efficiency of 0.219.

In the official statistics, the U.S. Men were only credited with three digs, led by Priddy with two. Poland was only credited with four digs.

U.S. Head Coach Alan Knipe started Anderson and Priddy at outside hitter, Holmes and Lee at middle blocker, Stanley at opposite, Thornton at setter and Lambourne at libero.

Millar started the third set for Holmes and Rooney started the third set for Anderson. Evan Patak (Pleasanton, Calif.) and Riley Salmon (League City, Texas) played as substitutes.

Bartman led Poland with 16 points on 12 attacks, one block and three aces.

Poland made it to the World Cup thanks to an FIVB wild card. The U.S. Men went 2-2 against Poland during the Intercontinental Round of the 2011 World League and have a 33-17 record against Poland since 1981.

With Poland leading 6-3 in the first set, the U.S. Men scored on a Stanley kill and Thornton ace to pull to within one. Poland came back with a 3-0 run, including two kills and a U.S. hitting error. Stanley ended the run with a kill and the two teams exchanged points. Leading 14-11, Poland got a transition kill from Bartman and a back-row attack by Kurek to lead 16-11 at the second technical timeout (TTO). The U.S. came out of the break with a Lee kill and ace from Priddy. But Poland responded with a kill the sparked a 5-0 run behind the service of Bartman, who had two aces in the string. The 21-13 deficit proved too much for the U.S. to overcome. Anderson led the U.S. with four points. Poland led in kills, 15-9, blocks 2-1 and aces 4-2.

Poland opened up a 4-2 lead in the second set but the U.S. tied it on kills from Anderson and Holmes. The teams traded points. The U.S. gained a 6-5 lead on Poland’s serving error and Holmes’ block and it led 8-7 at the first TTO, scoring on Holmes’ quick kill down the middle. The teams were tied 11-11 when Poland scored twice on a kill and ace to lead 13-11. Stanley came back with a block, but Poland scored twice more on a Bartman attack and U.S. error to lead 15-12. The European side led 16-13 at the second TTO. With Poland leading 17-14, a Polish service error and Thornton ace pulled the U.S. to within one. Poland was leading 18-17 when it scored on a U.S. service error and net violation to lead 20-17. Knipe called timeout and Lee responded with a block, but the damage was done. Poland took set point at 24-20 on a Kurek kill and won the set on a U.S. error. Anderson scored five points for the U.S. Poland led in kills 13-10 and in aces 2-1. The teams each had three blocks.

Poland took a 5-1 lead, scoring on two kills and a block along with two U.S. service errors, in the third set leading Knipe to call timeout. Stanley came back with a kill, but the U.S. could not score more than one point at a time and trailed 8-4 at the first TTO. After the break, the U.S. scored on Poland’s service error. The Europeans came back with a Bartman kill and ace to increase their lead to 10-5. Poland led 16-9 at the second TTO. With Poland leading 21-13, the U.S. scored three straight points, including a block from Millar, but Poland called its first timeout of the match and Rooney’s next serve went into the net. Poland led 22-18 and scored the final three points of the match on a kill, a block and a final kill.